Happy Fourth of July!

Me at Ft. Leonardwood - 1961

Ft. Leonardwood, MO - U.S. Army Boot Camp

(Click on picture to enlarge)

My Father's Day

I really had a nice Father's Day. My son and grandson came over for a visit this morning and brought me a new T-shirt that I immediately put on. I was surprise to see them because I thought they had already left for their weeks vacation in Gatlingburg, TN. We really had a nice visit and Marian took this picture of us by the fireplace before they had to leave. Later, we went out to my step-granddaughter's home for a cookout and birthday for my step-grandson, Carl, who is 19 years old today. We really had a good time and everyone had to stay inside because it was very, very hot. When we got in our Sierra GMC truck to come home it read 107 inside and then dropped down to 104 and by the time we hit the highway it was 95 degrees. We had to come home and take a nap because we were zapped. We are also under a heat advisory for Mississippi till Monday. Looks like it will be a long hot summer. We have not had any rain in over two weeks.

Here is a picture Marian took of John Gregory standing in front of his very own car given to him by his Aunt Jackie who lives in Santa Fe, NM. It is a Honda and has approximately 80,000 on it. I believe it is a '97. John is 15 now and will be 16 on Christmas Eve. Pretty nice car for your very first one! He's so lucky to have had one given to him. I hope he will be safe in it and take good care of it. He just got home today from being a councilor at Warner-Tully YMCA Camp south of town. He is an avid hunter, having already harvested a nice 10 pt. on opening morning, on a swim team, plays soccer and on a track team. He's also a scout.

My 8-Point Buck!

This is a great picture of my buck that was taken at Halpino Hunting Club next to Tara Wildlife north of Vicksburg. My friend Sidney and I had a chance to hunt there years ago, him as my guest. I can't remember who took the picture of my deer, but I do remember that he laid down on the ground and got this great shot. It's hanging on my wall!

Congratulating Marian

Here I am congratulating Marian on New Year's Day 1990 on harvesting her first 8-point buck. It's a New Year's I will never ever forget. She of course had this deer mounted. Looks like we are toasting with a beer! We were hunting at Brown's Point Hunting Club on Kings Point Island, north of Vicksburg.

It was harvested on New Year's Eve around 5:30 in the evening. I was directly across from her stand when I heard the shot. I quickly got my stuff together and got down out of my stand at Triple XXX and walked across the road, down the path towards her stand, No. 62. As I approach, she was still in the deer stand and she said her legs were shaking like a leaf and I asked, what direction did the deer go? She said, "It's laying down right over there!" I could not believe it! I was so proud of her. I had to go and get our big gray suburban that was parked on another road and try to maneuver it between all the trees to get to the deer. I finally got it backed up and crawled in the back of the truck and on the count of three, she picked up the backend of a 190 lb. buck and threw it in the truck and knocked me down backwards towards the back seats. I could not believe she did that! She was ALL pumped up! What a day and what a hunt!

Two of my grandchildren

My grandson John Gregory skiing at the Santa Fe Ski Basin outside Santa Fe, NM, while on vacation a few years ago.

Laura just took a spill trying to ski at the Santa Fe Ski Basin outside Santa Fe, NM, a few years ago with her brother. Laura and John Gregory, my son Greg's children, that live here in Vicksburg, were on vacation to see their Aunt Karen, my daughter, who lives in Santa Fe.

MS River Sandbar Fun

Here I am with my step-daughter, Marian Suzanne "Suzi," about 17 years ago. At this time we were members of Brown's Point Deer Hunting Club on Kings Point Island north of Vicksburg. The Mississippi River bordered the camp and in the summer Marian and I would go up to the camp and ride our four wheeler and 3 wheeler with the kids. We also had a room on the second floor of the camp house and would spend the night often. It was so much fun to ride around on the 2,500 acres of land and see deer. We also would fish behind the camp where a large creek ran through the property. I really missed those days of long ago...but I still have my fond memories.